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Punchless Avalanche set to welcome Wild

Jan 24, 2008 - 3:23 PM Minnesota (27-19-3) at Colorado (26-19-4) 9:00 pm EST

DENVER (Ticker) - The Colorado Avalanche are without three of their top offensive threats - and the lack of firepower is starting to show.

The Avalanche will look to keep pace in the Northwest division when they host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

Colorado lost captain Joe Sakic on December 1 to hernia surgery, saw left wing Ryan Smyth go down on December 31 with a broken ankle, then lost All-Star center Paul Stastny on January 17 after his appendix was removed.

The cracks finally started to show on Tuesday, when the Avalanche had trouble generating any sort of offense in a 4-0 loss to the Nashville Predators.

The Wild have gotten good play this season from top goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who owns a 17-9-2 record with a 2.54 goals against average. The Finish netminder's biggest threats will be Colorado right wing Marek Svatos, who leads the team with 20 goals, and right wing Milan Hejduk.

Minnesota has lost three of its last four games, including a 2-1 loss at Calgary on Tuesday. Brian Rolston scored the lone goal for the Wild, who managed to put just 24 shots on net in the setback.

All-Star Marian Gaborik has been held without a goal in the past four games, but he has four assists over the same span.

The teams have split four meetings this season, but have not met since Minnesota earned a 4-1 win here on November 18.